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Vito Sciscioli just laid out the challenge facing us if we want to move the Syracuse community forward. Our cost of government overhead is way out of proportion to the available tax base supporting it. The government structure that we have was built up when Syracuse had a large manufacturing base and twice the population. With the out migration we end up with fewer people to support the municipal operations, yet we have not significantly changed those costs. And though the county population has been relatively stable, the structure still has layer upon layer of towns and villages, duplication of essential services such as Police and Fire and over 1000 taxing authorities. Changing what we are familiar with and have grown up with is difficult. But if we are to have a prosperous, vibrant city in the 21st century, then we need to find a better way. The challenge to leadership organizations like 20/20 and the political leadership is to present a plan of change where the citizens do not feel like they are giving up something, but that they are going to get something better.
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Last Monday, May 26th, we observed Memorial Day – rightly dedicated to those who have fallen in serving our country. It is a serious day of remembrance. The first Memorial Day was recognized on May 30th 1868 and was called Decoration Day, a day when communities decorated the gravesites of their soldiers. History says it started right here in Upstate New York, in Waterloo. It stayed that way until Congress passed the Uniform Holiday Bill in 1968 that moved Memorial Day to the last Monday of the month. We did it for convenience, so that we could have three day holidays weekends, that stores could have Memorial Day sales and we could plan trips to visit and have cookouts and barbecues. But, did we really have to make this day so convenient? Moving a Columbus Day holiday to a Monday is different than moving Memorial Day. For 100 years we had a tradition of Memorial Day on May 30th. It was good for all those generations. But now we need the convenience. It’s such a disgrace – I’ll have a day in remembrance that you died so I could live free, but I just want to make it convenient. What kind of thanks is that? It should be moved back. That would a statement of remembrance.
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Most would say that picking your choice among political candidates in an election should be based on evaluating their positions, knowing their beliefs and your confidence in them in getting the job done. There is also that unknown quality some call charisma, which generally means kind of personal magnetism. Where does that come from? According to Professor Nye of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, charisma can come from the person, the belief of the followers of that person, particularly where it is a time of change and the situation the person is placed in. Many who are judged to have had charisma, such as Presidents Roosevelt and Reagan and England’s Winston Churchill had great success, but charisma did not get them all the programs they wanted, for they also had great failure depending on the circumstances they were dealing with. There are also other non verbal signs that lead us to conclude who to vote for. Good looks can account for an 8- 10 % difference. In one study when people were shown images of two candidates in an election they were not familiar with, they could predict the winner 7 out of 10 times. And in a similar kind of experiment where people were shown a 10 second silent video clip, their guesses were much more reliable in the outcome than using other indicators, such as the economy. So what you see may not be what you get. As Yogi Berra is quoted: “you can observe a lot by watching.”
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Governor Paterson visited Syracuse this week and laced his comments at the MDA Luncheon with some Dinosaur hot sauce. When it came to talking about the budget, the Governor pointed out that even though the NY economy was financially struggling, the Legislature adopted a budget way beyond what was fiscally sound. He came in late in the game and tried to change it, but the assembly and senate just added it back Governor Paterson rightly called this unconscionable and challenged the CNY legislators in the audience to justify such an outrageous increase to the taxpayers. The chances are the leadership of the legislature will ignore the reality as they have for the last 12 years. But Governor Paterson should stick to his guns and keep lathering hot sauce on the legislators. The only thing scarier than losing a perk from the speaker or senate leader is losing your seat and Central New Yorkers ought to make it clear that any elected official who prefers spendthrift spending to sound fiscal policy will not stay in office.
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China wants to take center stage before the world at the 2008 summer Olympics but they don’t want the heat of any criticism. Millions of dollars have been invested in facilities to make China a showcase to the world. Indeed, China has come a long way economically and socially. But the government has also clamped down on free expression whenever it does not suit them. Among the many issues is the tension and killings in Tibet where the government has carried on a systematic approach to stifle comment and to eliminate dissidents. The Olympic torch, instead of making its way across the continents as a symbol of unity and freedom has become a target of activists to demonstrate against the Tibetan policies. China’s reaction is to stamp it out – shut it down – stifle it –. If China wants to be a world superpower and take its bows on stage, it has to learn how to take the heat – otherwise, you know the saying, get out of the kitchen.
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When Adolf Hitler was planning the extermination of the Jews, his generals asked him what the world would think of them carrying out his 1939 blitzkrieg order of killing every man women and child? Hitler answered – who remembers the Armenians? Though few might be aware of it, this past April 24 was the 93rd anniversary of the remembrance of the Armenian genocide. In 1915, the Ottoman Empire led by Kemal Attaturk began the systematic deportation and extermination of a million and one half of the Armenians, one third of the total population. The Armenians were Christian. The Turks were Muslims. The Turks claim killings were a result of civil unrest and did the killings under the cloak of World War I. The U.S. Ambassador to Turkey at the time, Henry Morgenthau, tried to get the attention of the United States and the world powers. He saw what was going on first hand. But the world turned its back. Would the Jewish holocaust not have happened if the world powers intervened? Would Hitler have thought twice if he knew the wrath of the world powers would come down on him? Today there is genocide in Tibet, Rwanda and the Sudan – the world has still not rid itself of this inhumanity to man. Is it too utopian to believe that the superpowers could agree that on this planet there would be no genocide? Have we not evolved over the centuries except to have more powerful means for mass extermination? With the right world leadership we could have a better future.
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In the interview you just saw with Chuckie Holstein and Shandrist Hillsman, if you look closely at the button on Chuckie’s right lapel. It’s says Be+. She has been wearing a version of Be+ for over ten years. Her optimistic outlook and enthusiasm is an example for all of us to keep thinking positive about building a better community. It’s believing that you can do it – and just like that ant, you can move that rubber tree plant. It’s a good lesson for all of us to have high hopes on accomplishing anything we put our minds to.
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The Irish have been rich contributors to our culture with great writers, musicians, playwrights and poets. But what might be considered Ireland’s greatest gift is the most recent example of the peaceful coexistence between Sinn Fein and the Irish Republican Army factions with the unionists and Northern Ireland. Bitter strife took the lives of many innocent women and children and blood spilled on the streets. Now there is a brokered peaceful coexistence and a recognition that there is more to life that hating ones brother. Significant credit can go to our own Congressman Jim Walsh for this. If the Irish can bridge this gap of hatred, why can’t the Jews and Palestinians, the Sunni and the Shiites. There is an example here that is worth understanding.
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In his State of the City Address Mayor Driscoll laid out ambitious plans for
residential and commercial development. Many of the plans are joint projects between government and private interests and they will need approval before the Common Council. The Council needs to understand that there is urgency to the plight of the City and that they need to act quickly and decisively on projects that come before them. It took five years longer to approve Destiny than it should have and with all that time passing came a dramatic change in the financial markets that is now a great disadvantage. The moral is: when you are presented a window of opportunity, you need to take it before the window closes.
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In her first State of the County address, County Executive Joanie Mahoney underscored the importance of building the county economy. Fortunately, the sound fiscal management by outgoing County Executive Nick Pirro left a solid foundation for moving forward. Those in attendance had to be impressed with how much the new County Executive grasped so quickly. Top of the agenda was the development of jobs, creating a Regional Airport Authority, the need to work with the city, tapping into the universities and OCC, creating a strong workforce and gaining commitment of cultural organizations to jointly tackle illiteracy. She also didn’t forget her campaign promise to propose property tax relief for senior citizens. All in all, it was 50 minutes of great content.
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Polyester reached a peak of popularity in 1977 when John Travolta wore a three piece white polyester suit as he danced across the floor in Saturday Night Fever. The synthetic fabric was all the rage then, but it fell on hard times, a victim to the allure of natural fibers. Now polyester is making a comeback thanks to its embrace by many of the Parisian designers who tout it as the next best thing. Louis Vuitton, Balenciaga, Calvin Klein and Armani to name a few. One thing that has changed though is, it’s not cheap anymore, the cost is rising as fast as gas because it’s made from fossil fuels.
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Speaking of China, for the first time in 2007 the number of Chinese visitors to Japan exceeded the number of American visitors - a sign of Asian wealth. But just to put it in perspective, the number of Chinese visitors to Japan is about a million, but the country having the top tourist destination is France at 75 million.
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Three strikes against the United States Congress for taking the time to hold hearings on baseball, steroids and interrogate Roger Clemens. Strike one: with a war on two fronts, an economy in distress, terrorism, and a country at risk, don’t they have better things to do with their time. Two: of all institutions to talk about ethics, Congress should be the last to throw stones. They refuse to put any real teeth into ethics violations, with dozens of their own members resigning in disgrace. Strike three: it’s only baseball – it’s a sport – it’s a game –the fans will be the final judge. In fact, Congress’s own association with the game is more toxic to baseball than all the steroids in China.
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With the national and state economy struggling and the potential of a recession looming, Governor Spitzer has presented a budget as though there is no concern. His proposed budget of 124 billion is up over 5%, a very big increase, even in good times. As a result there is a 4 billion dollar budget gap. The Governor says he is not raising taxes, but he is increasing the fees on a whole bunch of things, like auto insurance, real estate transfers and sales taxes. Then, he is counting on all of us to help, he wants extend the play time of Quick Draw Lottery games from 8 a day to 24 hours and liquor stores would be open seven days a week. So to balance the budget, he wants us all to gamble more and drink more. And at the rate he's going, those may be the only things left to do.
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A visit to the ODT website shows how lucky we are to live in the United States. If the world population were a village of only 100 people, this is how it would breakout. Of the 100 people, 60 would be from Asia, 14 from Africa, 12 from Rurope, 8 from Mexico and South America, only 5 from the US and Canada. Of the 100, 80 would live in substandard housing, 50 would suffer from malnutrition, 34 would be illiterate, only 7 would own an automobile. If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep, you are more comfortable than 75% of the people in this world. We are very fortunate.
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